In Countee Cullen's poem "Incident", he explains that racism is painful, no matter what age you face it, and leaves a scar on your mind for life life. Countee Cullen was born May 30, 1903. Morris (2000) states, "by all accounts, no one is sure where he was born. Some say Louisville, Kentucky; others, Baltimore; still others, New York City. Cullen's origins are shrouded in this sort of mystery the poet himself gave conflicting accounts of his birthplace" (p. 88). He died on January 9, 1946 in New York, New York, of high blood pressure and uremic poisoning. Cullen was known for being an American poet who was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. “He graduated Phi Betta kappa from New York University, then a year later earned a master’s degree from Harvard University.” (Smith, 1950, p. 216) Cullen followed a traditional writing style in which his works were strongly linked to racism. The poem "Incident" comes from Cullen's book called Color, which shows his writing style quite well. From my perspective, in the poem, he says that as he passed through Baltimore, he was excited and enjoyed every part of his journey and the view he had. During his journey he happened to notice a Baltimorean staring at him for no reason. This made him wonder why the stranger was staring at him. In the poem in the second stanza he says that he was a boy of only eight years old at the time and the stranger who was acting was no one older than him, he was just another boy of the same age. Seeing him, the poet just smiled, but stopped himself when the other boy stuck out his tongue and called him "nigger." This shows that even children are taught racism at a young age and keep black people out of their... middle of paper... minds their entire lives. It's no one's fault that he was born black. The poet says that black people are also human beings and they too deserve to be equal. Cullen proved that black people can make it to the top, despite the obstacles they face. I enjoyed reading this poem simply because after reading it, you could imagine how the author felt. It just shows the effect racism has on a person. It scares you for life and always keep the incident in mind. All it does is create anger and pain among black people and causes horrible, everlasting memories. This poem proved it. References Smith, R. (1950). The poetry of Countee Cullen. Phylon, 11(3), 216-221. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/272005Morris, G. (2000). Count Cullen. African American Authors, 1745-1945: Critical Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook, 88-91.